Dries Van Noten A/W 17: Celebration of the past and the future

Paris: Dries Van Noten presented his 100th show and to mark the occasion, he brought together models who had worked together decades ago to wear his creations. Inclusivity is an overarching trend for A/W 2017 and Dries made this an important element in a simple presentation that spoke volumes.

Dries Van Noten catwalk

The essence of his very modern wardrobe was about comfortable daywear, with strong shoulders, and ample cuts – pieces for everywoman. “Menswear as we always do,” he said. “We exaggerated some volumes, but the shapes are quite basic, very comfortable, more daywear than ever.” Fabulous oversized menswear jackets, both plain and patterned, were worked into the easy styled silhouettes of dresses and louche trousers, while the prints, drawn from past collections were revamped, modernized and overprinted in bold graphic shapes mixed and rendered in vivid colours.

Dries said: “there is something of the past, something of the future throughout”. There was, there was so much to love about this collection and with David Bowie’s heroes singularly accompanying the last of the models as they walked along the Catwalk, the emotional silence that followed was poignantly deafening. – Lizzy Bowring